An explosion is seen during Israeli air strikes in Gaza on 27 October.
Photograph: Ahmed Zakot/Reuters

Palestinian medics say three boys aged 12 to 14 have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the south-eastern Gaza Strip.

Ashraf al-Kidra of the health ministry said ambulance crews were bringing the children’s bodies to a hospital from the perimeter fence dividing Gaza and Israel.

The Israeli army said an aircraft hit three Palestinians who approached the security fence on Sunday “and were apparently involved in placing” an explosive device on to it.

The Gaza-Israel border area has been volatile for months as the enclave’s Hamas rulers organise weekly protests there against a decade-long Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Egyptian mediators relentlessly urge the two sides separately to restore calm and prevent wider conflict.

More than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the protests since March. One Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper in July.